sleepy disappointment

I fell asleep Saturday night with great anticipation of sleeping in Sunday morning. Usually I wake up early in order to lead worship at our 8am traditional service. However, I had been given this particular morning off.

To my sleepy disappointment I awoke at about 5am, feeling stirred by the Spirit of God, to get up and spend some time with Him. goody. I can't tell you how enthused I was about losing precious sleep. So I reluctantly peeled myself out of bed in order to follow this prompt.

I tiptoed into our pitch dark office and set my Bible open faced on the floor and proceeded to close the door and turn on the light. When I came back to my bible this is what lay before me:

Isaiah 35
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;

⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you."

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow...

As a worship minister (I'm not officially ordained--but in the active sense of the word) I spend much of my week racking my brains about what cool, new elements we can add to our services to bring in a "wow" factor for the congregation that might tickle their artistic fancies just right and leave a lasting impression on them throughout the week. However, as I read and re-read this passage I am reminded very deeply that we don't come to church for a good show...at least we shouldn't. We come to church to meet, learn about, experience the living, all powerful, uncontainable God--and when that happens, when "he comes" so to speak--then the real stuff starts happening--not the cool lights and videos. I mean the REAL stuff like "the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." Can you imagine what that would be like on a Sunday morning? Uncontainable.

So I am extremely grateful that God continues to remind me that it's not newer, cooler services that will bring people to Him--it's HIM that will bring people to Him. And it's just our job to lift Him up. Not just mine as a "worship leader"--ALL of us.

Now, don't get me wrong--I am 110% behind releasing the creative gifts of God's people for His glory and fame to be spread and known in this dry and thirsty land. If that looks like a sweet video, an amazing light show, a fantastic new or old song or I don't know...a kid break dancing for Jesus then bring it on! Let's go for it! But it's only when our hearts are aligned with the core of why we come to church that we are free to celebrate all the expressions of cool, new stuff and allow those things to fulfill there intended purpose. Yeah?

timothydavid